Classification of government documents (confidential, secret, top secret) is a system used by the executive branch to, in part, protect national security and foreign policy interests. The systematic use of classification markings with precise definitions was established during World War I, and since 1936 major changes in classification have…

Although common law does not provide reporters with the privilege of withholding confidential sources or information before courts of law, reporters have raised First Amendment arguments for such privilege. In Branzburg v. Hayes (1972), a case consolidating three decisions, the Supreme Court ruled heavily, but not absolutely, against such First…

To examine how the Supreme Court has ruled on press claims of a constitutional right to gather information, this paper summarizes important decisions in eight key cases. Although none of the cases clearly outlines and defines the Court's approach to the right of the press and public to gather information, insights may be gained through a…

Examines the community pressures, personal interests, insecurities and commitment to issues that can lead to unofficial censorship of children's reading material. Advises that the educator role is to guarantee the child's freedom to read and to develop the capacity for critical response. (SDH)

Paper takes a critical view of the efforts by teacher union activists to gain control over education in America, including requirements for entrance into and remaining in the teaching profession. (Editor)

To determine whether the diocesan newspapers of the Catholic church are based on an autonomous, adversarial model or on an institutional, public relations model of the press, a survey was conducted of 148 editors and 145 bishops or publishers of such newspapers. Results showed that the editors and bishops agreed on the three major roles of the…

L. L. Guttman's scaling procedures were used to analyze United States Supreme Court decisions concerning the press for the period 1971-1981. Guttman scaling is essentially a means of determining whether a given set of responses is unidimensional, meaning that the responses are part of a single hierarchical continuum. The 44 press cases during the…

Established in the early 1970s to respond to complaints about and from the media, the four press councils in Canada (the Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and Windsor Press Councils) have been accepted, but not overwhelmingly so by either newspapers or the public. The success and acceptability of the councils seems to be related to the kinds of complaints…

This booklet was published in observance of the twentieth year of the Freedom of Information Center at the University of Missouri-Columbia. It includes seven speeches about the right to know or freedom of information movement that seeks to end government secrecy. The authors of the speeches are: Paul Fisher, who discusses the history of the…

Through a review of literature on the subject, this paper discusses the dangers of political influence on the demand for educational accountability in Australian schools. Some areas of universities and colleges should remain free from vertical or political accountability, the paper warns. These areas include the values of liberalism and free…

In the United States Supreme Court's only decision on the question of journalists' protecting their confidential sources (the "Branzburg trilogy" of cases decided in 1972), Justice Lewis Powell emphasized the importance of "striking a proper balance between freedom of the press and the obligation of all citizens to give relevant…

India's policy of free speech suffered a severe if temporary setback in the 1970s. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a 19-month state of emergency, during which 150,000 people were arrested, newspapers were censored, and dissent was essentially eliminated. A central figure in the confrontation with the Indian government over political…

The legal problems faced by publishers of alternative newspapers are often compounded by the limited availability of the funds they have either for legal defense or for initiating lawsuits. Although both the courts and journalism's professional associations theoretically support the position that the alternative press possesses rights identical to…